What actually happens on the 30-minute scoping call?

A working session: you walk me through the interface problem, I name the constraints I see and the shape a 3–8 week engagement would take. You leave the call with a written scope sketch emailed within 24 hours, whether or not we end up working together.

Is the scoping call free?

Yes. The 30 minutes are unpaid. If we move forward, the engagement fee covers everything from discovery through shipped production code; the scoping call cost is folded into the first invoice.

Who should attend the call from my side?

Ideally the head of product or a founder with product authority, plus one engineering lead if the scope is technical. More than three attendees on your side tends to slow the call — I'd rather loop in other stakeholders after the scope is written.

Do you work with agencies, or only direct clients?

Both. About a third of engagements come through agencies subcontracting senior UI/UX capacity. The terms are the same — I am the one doing the work and reviewing the code, regardless of who the contract is with.

What is the typical budget range for an engagement?

First-engagement scopes typically start at USD 18,000 and run 3–8 weeks depending on surface area. Series A–C product leaders usually come in with a defined range; if your budget is below that, I'll point you to a more appropriate freelancer rather than waste your time.

What happens if the scope grows after we start?

Scope changes are written up as a change order with a fixed delta — no surprise invoices. Roughly 40% of engagements expand during the project; the process is designed to handle that without resetting timelines.

Contact — 04 / 04

The Offer

Book a 30-minute scoping call.

A structured call to determine whether the engagement is worth scoping — not a sales demo, not a free consulting hour. You leave with a written read on whether to proceed; I leave with enough context to quote against.

No deck. No slides. No discovery questionnaire sent in advance.

What the call is

Thirty minutes, structured. Not a pitch.

01 — Agenda

You describe the surface, the constraint, and the metric you'd move. I describe the engagement shape, the team I'd assemble from the bench, and the first two weeks of work.

02 — Who should attend

One decision-maker. The Head of Product, a founding designer, or the founder themselves. Pulling in a committee signals the engagement isn't real yet — we can wait.

03 — Deliverable

A short written scope within two business days of the call: deliverables, timeline, fixed fee, and the single UX metric guaranteed in the SOW (activation, retention, or task-completion time).

04 — What it isn't

Not a free consulting hour. Not a portfolio walk-through. If the work isn't a fit, you'll be told in the first five minutes and the rest of the slot is yours.

Other channels

Direct lines, if you'd rather not use the form.

[email protected]

Primary channel. Replies during Osaka business hours, 09:00–18:00 JST.

Phone

+81 6 7777 0421

For urgent scopes or existing clients only. Voicemail transcribes to email.

Postal

Kita Ward, Osaka 530-0001, Japan

For contracts and physical correspondence. A reply envelope is appreciated but not required.

Response window

24 hours, weekdays

Every inbound message receives a written reply within one Osaka business day. No auto-responders.

Objections, answered

Four questions a skeptical buyer asks first.

What does a typical engagement cost?

A first-engagement scope lands between $48K and $140K USD, fixed-fee, billed in two milestones against the SOW. Engagements run 3–8 weeks. Second-engagement scopes, once the metric is established, are quoted separately and usually run shorter.

Will I be talking to you, or to an account manager?

To me. There is no account manager, no producer, no project coordinator between you and the work. The person on the scoping call ships the code. The person answering Slack is the person writing the components.

What happens if the scope grows mid-engagement?

The original SOW is treated as a contract — additions are quoted as a change order against the same metric. No silent scope-creep, no hourly billing. Roughly one in four engagements grows in the second half; the conversation about it is in writing, not a phone call.

Is the call a sales pitch?

No. If the work isn't a fit for this practice, you'll be told in the first five minutes and pointed at a designer who is. About 30% of scoping calls end without an engagement, usually because the team isn't far enough along, the metric isn't yet measurable, or the timeline is shorter than three weeks.

Book the call. The next thirty minutes decide whether the next six weeks are worth scoping.

Book a Scoping Call

Reply within 24 hours, Osaka business days. No follow-up sequence, no drip campaign.